Mark English (Finn Valley AC) has broken his own Irish 800m outdoor record for the third time this season, clocking 1:43.37 in Budapest, Hungary.
Competing at the Gyulai István Memorial, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meet, the 32-year-old finished second in a stacked field behind Laban Kipkorir Chepkwony of Kenya, who crossed the line in 1:42.96 for victory. This takes over half a second off his previous best of 1:43.92 which had been set in Hengelo, the Netherlands in June.
The Letterkenny man who won his tenth 800m outdoor title at the recent 123.ie National Senior Track and Field Championships at Morton Stadium in Santry, has now clocked all of his six fastest ever times this year.
Following the Paris 2024 Olympic Games he switched coach to Justin Rinaldi of the Fast 8 Track Club and in March won his fifth European medal, bronze in the Men’s 800m at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn.
In the coming weeks he will return to altitude for a stint of training before the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo next month, where he will aim to make his first global major final.
Darragh McElhinney (Bantry AC) competes in the Men’s 3000m at 5:45pm.
